The New Grad Experience — What's Promised vs What's Real - 281
Some vets and nurses leave the profession far too soon. You probably know of at least one yourself. In this sixth episode of The Elephant In The Room series, Julie South looks at what happens when a new grad arrives at a clinic and the support that was promised turns out to look very different in practice — and asks one question that every new grad and every clinic owner should be able to answer. Episode notes Many vet clinics advertise a mentoring programme for new graduates — and mean it. B...
Some vets and nurses leave the profession far too soon. You probably know of at least one yourself.
In this sixth episode of The Elephant In The Room series, Julie South looks at what happens when a new grad arrives at a clinic and the support that was promised turns out to look very different in practice — and asks one question that every new grad and every clinic owner should be able to answer.
Episode notes
Many vet clinics advertise a mentoring programme for new graduates — and mean it. But meaning it and having something formal behind it are two different things.
This episode looks at what happens when a mentoring programme exists in name but not in structure: the weekly catchups that become fortnightly, then monthly, then disappear entirely because there was nothing documented to hold them in place. And the harder version — where the new grad didn't clarify at interview what support would look like, the clinic didn't know what expectation had been set, and the new grad arrives to find they're largely on their own.
The episode covers three outcomes for new grads who don't get the support they need: those who find their footing anyway, those who leave for a clinic that will support them, and a smaller group — real, if not large — who leave the profession entirely. They didn't fail at the job. The job failed them.
The episode also looks at what the clinics that do it well have in common — week-by-week milestones, documented, a mentor who shows up and follows through — and why those clinics get talked about through new grad cohorts in a very different way.
The closing question is for both audiences: new grads are encouraged to ask to see the mentoring programme on paper at their next interview. Clinic owners are asked what they would point a new grad to if that question came up tomorrow.
This is the sixth episode in The Elephant In The Room — a series examining the things everyone in veterinary knows and almost no one says out loud.
About your host
Julie South is the founder of VetClinicJobs and the host of Veterinary Voices. She has been in veterinary recruitment since 2019 and is known for her work in culture storytelling — helping forward-thinking vet clinics build the kind of genuine, specific culture evidence that attracts Their Kind of People long before any job ad runs.
Julie has spoken on culture storytelling and employer branding at VetEXPO in Melbourne and works with clinics across Australasia and beyond who want vets and nurses to be excited about going to work on Monday mornings — for all the right reasons.
Struggling to get results from your job advertisements?
If so, then shining online as a good employer is essential to attracting the types of veterinary professionals who're a perfect cultural fit for your clinic.
The VetClinicJobs job board is the place to post your next job vacancy - to find out more get in touch with Lizzie at VetClinicJobs
The New Graduate Experience — What's Promised vs What's Real
The Elephant In The Room — Episode 6
Why do some vets and nurses leave the veterinary profession too soon?
[00:00]
Hi, I'm Julie South, and you're listening to Veterinary Voices — culture storytelling conversations for forward-thinking vet clinics.
This is Episode 281, the sixth in the Elephant in the Room series.
Veterinary Voices is brought to you by VetClinicJobs — helping clinics get applications from Their Kind of People.
Some vets and nurses leave the profession far too soon. You probably know of at least one yourself. Even one is far too many, and far too sad.
Today's elephant is about what happens when a new grad arrives at a clinic and the support that was promised turns out to be a very different thing in practice.
[00:56]
Stay to the end, please — because I'm going to leave you with one question. Whether you're a new grad or a clinic owner, this is worth having an answer to.
What does research say about what new graduate vets and nurses need from a job ad?
[01:12]
Last week we talked about pay — and the research VetStaff undertook with Unitec Te Pukenga in 2023, showing that almost 97% of vets and nurses rate salary as important or most important when considering a new role.
[01:40]
That same research showed that inadequate support or resources was a red flag that would stop or stall an application.
[01:49]
New grads aren't just looking for a salary. They're looking for evidence that someone will be there when they need them. And most job ads that mention a mentoring programme give them nothing to go on beyond those two words.
What happens when a vet clinic mentoring programme has no formal structure behind it?
[02:04]
Here's how it sometimes plays out.
A clinic has a mentoring programme. They mean it — there's genuine intent behind it. But there's nothing formal behind it. No documented structure. No week-by-week milestones. No framework that says: in week one we cover this, by month three you as a new grad should be comfortable with that.
[02:36]
Instead, what there is — a more experienced vet or nurse who's agreed to put up their hand to catch up weekly. And they do. For a few weeks. Until everyone gets busy.
Weekly becomes fortnightly. Fortnightly becomes monthly. Monthly drops off entirely — with no formal structure holding it in place, there's nothing to bring it back.
[02:45]
The new grad notices. They may not say anything — they're new, they don't want to be difficult, they don't want to rock the boat. But they notice.
And the ad that they applied to said: mentoring programme.
What happens when a vet clinic implies a new graduate programme but never formalises it?
[03:03]
And then, sadly, there's a harder version of this.
Sometimes there's no programme at all — and the new grad didn't find out at interview because they didn't want to rock the boat by asking directly. Or maybe something was implied or mentioned in passing and they didn't push for clarification. Maybe the clinic implied it because they wanted that grad.
[03:28]
And because it wasn't said, because it wasn't formal, it then comes down — when the new grad asks about it — to a they said/they said situation. The new grad is carrying an expectation the clinic had no idea it had set.
[03:52]
Either way, the new grad arrives. And it comes down to sink, swim, or drown.
Some find their footing. They're resilient, or lucky, or they happen to work alongside someone who takes them under their wing informally.
[04:11]
Others look for a new job. They want to stay in the profession they studied for — they just need a clinic that will support them through those first critical months.
[04:25]
And then there's a smaller group. A real one — fortunately not huge, but still too big. The ones who've had enough. Who leave the veterinary sector entirely and go to work in a completely different field.
[04:42]
They didn't fail at the job. The job failed them. And the clinic failed them. And ultimately, that clinic failed the profession.
[05:05] (mid-roll)
Shameless plug here. If you're wondering what a vet or a nurse finds when they search for your clinic right now — how about you book a one-hour consult with me? We'll look at it together and you'll be able to see what's showing up through fresh eyes.
Now let's get back to today's show.
How does a new graduate's experience at their first vet clinic affect the clinic's future recruitment?
[05:25]
New grads talk to each other. This was true before social media, and it's even more true now.
[05:34]
The experience someone has in their first clinic — good or bad — travels through their cohort faster than any job ad ever will. The clinic where someone struggled and left doesn't just lose that person. They lose the next two or three new grads from that cohort who heard about it.
[05:57]
And the clinic that did it well — week-by-week milestones, documented, a mentor who showed up and followed through — those clinics get talked about too. In a completely different way.
What should a vet clinic say in a job ad about its new graduate mentoring programme?
[06:28]
The clinics that have built something genuinely good for new grads have something specific and true to say that very few job ads are taking the opportunity to say.
What does your mentoring programme look like? Who runs it? What does a new grad cover in their first month? What does week-by-week support look like in practice?
[06:39]
If you can answer those questions specifically — that's your ad. Not "mentoring programme." The answers to those questions.
[07:08]
Because a new grad reading your ad isn't looking for the words mentoring programme. They're looking for evidence that those words mean something at your clinic.
If your clinic has built a genuine new graduate programme — say so. Shout it from the rooftops, specifically, in the words of the people who have been through it.
What question should a new graduate vet or nurse ask at a job interview about mentoring?
[07:17]
Here's the question I said I'd leave you with. It's for new grads and it's for clinic owners.
[07:27]
New grads — at your next interview, ask what the mentoring programme looks like specifically. Not "do you have one" — that's too easy to say yes to. Ask what it looks like documented. What happens in week one? Who's responsible for it? And if there's nothing on paper, you have your answer before you take that application any further.
How can vet clinic owners provide evidence of their new graduate programme to job applicants?
[07:45]
Clinic owners — if someone asked you that question tomorrow, or later today, what would you point them to? Where would they go? How would you answer it?
[08:06]
If your clinic has a Culture Story Centre with your new grad programme evidenced there — in the words of the people who have been through it — direct them to it from your job ad. Let the new grad read the evidence before they even apply. Before the interview. That's the answer to "what would you point them to." A URL in the ad that takes them straight there.
[08:20]
And if the honest answer is nothing — then you've got a little bit of work to do.
Email me. julie@vetclinicjobs.com.
What is coming up next in The Elephant In The Room podcast series?
[08:30]
Next week in The Elephant In The Room — the corporate versus independent question. The thing everyone in veterinary has an opinion about. And almost nobody says out loud in a job ad.
[08:44]
Thank you for getting to the end.
This is Julie South signing off and inviting you to go out there and be your most fantabulous self — because you're working with Your Kind of People.
And remember — mentoring programme is two words. What happens in week one becomes the evidence.